Isabella bray



(No Model.)

I. BRAY. DRESS STAY.

N0. 480,994. Patented Aug. 16, 1892.

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NTTED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

ISABELLA BRAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRESS-STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,994, dated August 16, 1892.

Application filed April 11, 1892. Serial No. 428,604. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISABELLA BRAY, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new Improvement in Dress-Stays, (Case A 3) and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part ot' this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a face view of the stay complete; Fig. 2, a face view of the spring detached; Fig. 3, an edge view of thegsame; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section showing the spring in the pocket before the projecting ends of the cover are turned over; Fig. 5, a longitudinal section of the stay complete; Fig. 6, a modification in the construction of the springs.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of stays for ladies dresses in which the spring is inclosed within a covering and so as to be attached to the inside of the dress by stitches through the covering of the stay, the object of the invention being to employ very light steel for the springs, but yet attain sufficient strength, without the liability to break which necessarily exists in a steel spring of the required stiness; and the invention consists in the construction of the stay, as hereinafter described, and as particularly recited in the claim.

The spring for the stay is made from two thicknesses of steel, Arepresenting one thickness, and which is preferably shorter than the full length required for the stay. B represents the other thickness, which is preferably about the same length as that of the spring A. The two are placed together, lapped one upon the other, and so that the end of the part A projects beyond the end of the-part B, as seen in Fig. 3, and at the opposite end the end of the part B projects beyond the end of the part A, and the two parts are secured together by an eyelet or rivet C nearthe end of one of the overlapping parts, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. The two springs thus combined are of the length required for the stay. The part A is pierced with a hole D at its projecting end,

and the part B is pierced with a hole E at itsV projecting end. From the eyelet connection C toward the opposite end the two springs are free. Thus prepared the two springs are placed withinv a fabriccovering, as seen in Fig. 4, the covering projecting at both ends, so as to form a nap F at each end beyond the end of the sprin g. The covering is preferably woven, and is of a width greater than the width of the spring, and so as to leave a projecting edge G at each side of the pocket,

broken lines, Fig. l, representing the pocket, these edges being for the purpose of securing the stay to the dress.

After the spring is inserted into the pocket, as seen in Fig. 4, the projecting ends are turned over onto the face and the doubled end projects beyond the perforations E D of the two springs, then through these turnedover iiaps of the covering, and through the perforations E D. Eyelets H are set so as to secure the turned-over flap and also secure the covering to the spring at each end. This completes the stay.

l The two springs, secured together as described, are permitted a play one upon the other as the stay bends. The two springs are made thin, but so that the combined two springs give the requisite stiffness. Because of the slipping or playing which is permitted one spring upon the other, and of the consequent lightness oi' spring which is permitted by the construction, the spring is less liable to break than when the spring is made from a single thickness giving the same strength as the combined two springs.

While I prefer to construct the springs asI have described, the one projecting beyond the other, they may be made as seen in Fig. 6, one spring being of full length, the other spring shorter, and secured, as seen'in Fig.'6, so that the covering is secured to both ends of one spring. There is, however, the saine play between the two springs as in the first illustration.

I claim- The herein-described dresslstay, consisting of two liat thin springs A B, placed onenpon the other and secured together at one end, the springs of a length to give a projection of single thickness at each end, the projecting IOO ends of the springs pierced, combined with a. fabric pocket longer than the springs and so as to project beyond each end of the springs, the projecting ends of the pockets turned over onto the face, and with eyelets through the projecting ends and the pierced ends of the springs, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of nwo subsc1ib ing Witnesses.

ISABELLA BRAY.

\Vit11esses:

M. P. BRAY, AGNES J. MASON. 

